Warwick first new medical school to join MRC strategic partnership

Warwick Medical School has become the first new medical school to join a strategic partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC).

Following the agreement, the Medical School will receive more than £750,000 from the MRC towards some new initiatives.

The MRC has given Warwick Medical School support for a Strategic Appointment to attract Professor Martin Feelisch, a world-renowned researcher from the Boston University School of Medicine to the UK.

Professor Martin Feelisch, previously a Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Pharmacology at Boston University, joined Warwick on July 2. He received a major part of his training in pharmacy, pharmacology and physiology in Europe, where he held research positions in both the academic and industrial environment. His particular areas of expertise are cardiovascular pharmacology and drug metabolism, free radical signalling and the chemical biology of Nitric Oxide. In 1992, Dr Feelisch co-founded the Nitric Oxide Society and remains its director. He is on the editorial boards of a number of prestigious journals and is also an Associate Editor of the British Journal of Pharmacology.

Professor Feelisch said he joined Warwick because he was impressed with the quality of science. He said: “It is the energy and enthusiasm for research that transpires when you talk to investigators on the campus and the pace with which the Medical School is moving forward.

“The atmosphere here instils the feeling that anything is possible. If you can’t pull it off at Warwick, it isn’t going to happen elsewhere.”

As part of a pilot project, the MRC is also funding six studentships for a new Doctoral Training Centre in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research at Warwick Medical School. The centre will be a collaboration between Warwick Medical School and the Department of Biological Sciences and will provide training in the multi-disciplinary skills required for biomedical research. The students will undertake a taught MSc course in year 1, leading to an MSc in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, followed by a PhD in years 2 to 4.

Professor Yvonne Carter, Dean of Warwick Medical School, said she was excited by the new Strategic Partnership. Professor Carter said: “I am confident this partnership will be extremely rewarding both for the University of Warwick and the MRC. Martin Feelisch is a leading scientist with a truly outstanding international reputation and we are delighted to welcome him here.

“The new Doctoral Training Centre fits perfectly with Warwick Medical School’s ambitions and promises great things for the future.”